I do however loathe spiders. It's ridiculous and I know it but I can't be helped. I don't mean just not wanting to pick them up, this is full on. I can spot a spider a mile away (sometimes it's a clump of hair from the washing machine) and it instantly makes my knees buckle and I go all hot - a physical reaction hard to hide from children. What's worse is that Daddy is also afraid of them so there is nobody to pick them up and pretend to the girls they are harmless, helpful fly-catchers which are great for the environment (not the scheming, dangerous, evil creatures we actually know them to be).
I suppose I'm grateful that they are pretty much the only thing that bother me (oh and sharks - sometimes I'm too scared to get in the bath in case they come up the plug hole. At least that's rational, though, right? I mean a shark could take your leg off!) as I can fend off a wasp (another of Daddy's Nemeses), bee, ant, frog and I know these are all things people can sometimes be scared of. But the older I get the more stupid and embarrassed I feel when I have a 'reaction'.
The biggest problem for me is not wanting to pass this on to the girls. Daddy doesn't really care and thinks they should know the 'truth' (please see above re: character of spiders). My reasons are these: a) I, obviously, want them to be able to get rid of any unwanted house guests of the arachnid variety and
b) most importantly, I don't want them to feel the way I feel when I see a spider which is terrified (and embarrassed having fallen over and come out in hives).
Recently Little P got upset because a woodlouse (don't worry, guys. I've got this one) walked over her foot. As he approached she was amused and was telling me the big ant was coming but a soon as it climbed onto her she burst into tears. In this instance I was able to pick it up and tell her how lovely it was and I thought it was special he'd decided to come and say hello. She went along with this and was excited to tell Daddy when he got home.
If this had been a spider she'd have been locked out the back until she had been cleared for access again. How bad does that make me??
If anyone has any ideas/tips on how not to rub your own silliness off on littles, I'm all ears!
I hated spiders and had the same reactions as you before I had Toby. Now I know that as a mum I have to show no fear as I don't want to pass on my phobias. His dad, on the other hand, is a big spidey wimp! They tend to get crushed and flushed by me because I don't trust the hoover to keep them contained haha.
ReplyDeleteI love how you'd have locked darling daughter out the back of the house. I'm pretty sure this is what my OH would do if it was Toby. Make me chuckle #twinklytuesday x
Haha! Where are all the manly men?? No, I'm not a fan of hoovering them up either. I'm convinced they'll lay eggs in the cosy dust. I'm glad you managed to move on - I'll just have to try harder *shudders* xx
DeleteHAHAHAHA!!! Thank you for that! I needed to laugh today :-) My personal phobia is maggots and leaches, OMG!!!! I just can't.
ReplyDeleteEwww, yeah! They're pretty gross too... Haha! It's horrible it makes you feel like that just to think of them, isn't it??x
DeletePahaha this made me laugh. I too absolutely hate spiders. Despise them, can’t rest if I know there is one in the area! It is not irrational at all. They are small and fast and just eurgh. Luckily my other half is fine with them (don’t put a millipede in front of him though!), although he’s so kind that he is the worst spider catcher ever! I too don’t want to pass my fear onto Zach but it’s so hard when I just can’t stand them! Thanks so much for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
ReplyDeleteA careless spider catcher is worse than no spider catcher! I wish there was some training... Nothing worse than one going missing mid-eviction!xx
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